Link fabric.



H. KNICKMEYER.V

LINK FABRIC.

`APPLICATION HLEB Nov. 3, 19171 Patented Mar. 19, 1918. i

5 7 r A l .Q I 0 v0 W/ TME-6555: MQ.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-HENRYKNICKMEYEROFsr. noms, MISSOURI, ASsIGNoR froisuJrTH-annwsxun- FACTURING GOMPANY, elisir.. LOUIS, .Missonnr A kcononlnfr1o1v or MISSOURI,

LINK FABRIC.

' 'animation-0fwarmen@ ,ratentedpnan 19,1918.

Application Vfiled November 3, 1917. SeaINoJZOOJ-BB.

'.'To all vwhomfzt may concern; p

:Be it'known that I, HENRY 'KN1CKMEYEn, a citizen of the United States, lresiiling at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and vuseful Improvements in fLmlr Fabrics, of which lthe following is al `full, clear', and 'exact description, reference being had to `the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

The "present invention is directed to lthat class of wire vfabrics v'known 'asj'linkfabrics a form of `fabric .used toa considerable leX- tent for -purposes of bed-b0ttoins. Theobjects sought by theginvention are,t0 provide a fabricwhich will be noiseless; one which will not sagvor give sidewise; onein which the links will not Stretch under normal conditions of service; one in which the links are'so` jointedto one another as to` cause 'the fabric to readily conformv and respond to the shape and movements oftlrebody lofthe occupant of vthe bed; `one which will be comparatively inexpensive -to manufacture containing as it does a-minimum number -of parts 'and one possessing"further andother advantao'es "fully 'apparent from the vfollowing detailed description Ain connection Ywith the accompanying `drawings, in which*- Figurje l represents top @plan of 1a /por- 'tion oi' 'the improved 'ifabric serving the vpurpose cia*bed=bottom; Fig.2"`is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section on "the tical cross-section on'thelineB-BJO `Fig. 1; "Fig 4 is a top plan of vone .of the lon- ,gitudina'l links or units detached; :'Fig. '5

proved fabric comprises a series o fparallel rrows of longitudinally disposed links lor units coupled together j nlhinged relation, and a series of parallel rows of ltransverse' links .coupled kto the longitudinal ,as more 'ullyhereinater described. 'Theierlns longitudinal and transverseV as here employed are` merely relativeofcourse and are employed Lfor the sake Yoi convenience, the longitudinal links having reference to the links which'run lengthwise with thebed Ywhere thefabric'is usedas a bedlbottom,'the transverse links beingthose whichrun crosswise` of the `bed. ,In 'other relations the transverse links might become the longitudinal; members, and .the 'longitudinal links the transverse members, .the Ypurpose of the terms being to `bringv out the fact `that one set olinks istransverse'totlie otherset.

In 'the 'present vembodiment of myinvention the .longitudinal "link is Zcomposed of'a singlepiece of wire bent so as to 'formtwo arms or'limbs 3, 3, terminating at their free ends in Adownwardlyturned hooks or loops 4, 4, the opposite'end Vof the blink being .formed -with a. transverse `or cross anchor member 15 flanked V"by the eyes 6,6,wi1ich 'are disposed .exteriorl'y to .thearms "3, 3. The 'eyes '6, 6, are "spaced sufficiently apartllto :permitthe anchoring between the `eyes ofthe hooks 4, '4, of one link to themember f5 of lan adjacent 'link,.the 'anchor inerberslat" one end of :the fabric cbeingnoupled tothe springs 'Qns shown, 'thefihooks Zl, '4, 'at "the opposite Yend or' the fabric :being olif-.course coupled to "the springs atrsaid end, a matter 'quite lobvious fand requiring no'illustration. To `iniparttlie-necessary length 'to the cross anchor member '5 and 'thenecessary degree 'of separation to the 'eyes 6 6 the'wires or ar1ns.3, 3, which Vareastra'ight and 'substan- ',tially 4parallel throughout their length, vare ',.bent "outwardly .at FB', Vthe A'inclined portions 'B' connecting 'the Iouterportions .1B 'to the theycross .the .member *511:0 ireelyfaccom- A.mediate thefhonks n, a, of Vthe next succeeding llink munir. As 'Clearly' obvious froinl fdrawi'ngsjtheeyes 'Gare formedby a single ,crossing .ofthe yWresmso .thatat messing weihave'buttwo thicknesses of wire to `cornvtend with,vmaking it easy to dispose the eyes in substantially horizontal planegthat:

ins y is to say to bring them into the general plane of support of the fabric. It follows thereforev that the eyes 6 will be disposed in a 5 1s out of Contact withthe extremebends y a of the arms 3, 3, of the link, the terminals of said member forming the innerboundaries of the eyes 6, 6, and beino` necessarily disposed between the hooks 4 br free ends of the arms 3, 3,) and the eyes 6. The eyes may be said to form the base of the link, located as they are at the extreme end thereof. The cross member 5 is somewhat arched or bowed toward the hooks 4 or away from the eyes 6, 6, this arching when a strain or pull is exerted on said member, permitting the member to readily recover when the strain has ceased, this recovery imparting to the fabric the necessary resiliency without danger of the arched members yielding to or past the point of their limit of elasticity so as to cause the fabric to sag. This virtue of preventing a sag would be inherent in a fabric as here constructed even were the arch of the member 5 substantially a flat one between the terminals 3, 3. In either case a pullexerted on the anchor member 5 would tend to close the eyes 6, which tendency is resisted by the spring and stilfness of the wire when bent into theformations 5, 6, 6, as shown (or into formations which are their full equivalent) so that a sagging of the fabric is practically impossible under normal conditions of service. The spacing of the cross member 5 from the basal bends a of the arms 3, 3, necessarily enhances the resiliency of the link without impairing its resistance to strains. The adjacent eyes 6, 6, of opposed links in the several longitudinal rows are pivotally coupled to the adjacent Ydownwardly turned hooks or loops 7 of the transverse links 8 as shown, the meeting of themembers 3, 3, of contiguous links and of the links 8, 8, as described forming not only a flexiblev and noiseless joint, but a resilient one as well, and at the same ktime a joint sufficiently stili', to resist sagging. The terminal transverse links 8 are coupled to the side bars 9 the ends of which are secured to the springs 2 as well understood in the art. Necessarily, and considering the purpose which the anchor member 5 subserves, the crossing of the wires must be such as to bring said member below the wires 3", 3, that is to say on th'e bottom of the fabric V(or on `the side of the hooks 4 and 7), the upper wires 3, 3, taking up vany vertical `components 4of the strains to which said anchor member may be subjected. In they fabric as shown the longitudinal links of the several rows all point in the same direc tion, but it would not be a departure from my invention to have alternate rows of said links ypoint in the opposite direction. In that event of course each end of the fabric would terminate in a transverse row of eyes 6, 6, alternating with hooks 4, 4, instead of having all the eyes at one end and hooks at the other as illustrated in the drawings. In such reversal of alternate rows of longitudinal links, the cross rows of the links 8 would of course in no wise be affected.

Having described my invention what I `claim is 1. In a fabric of the character described, a link composed of a' single piece of ywire bent to form two juxtaposed arms having outer substantially parallel portions spaced apart and terminating at their free ends in hooks bent in the same direction in a given plane, the inner portions of the arms lbeing spaced wider apart than the outer portions and bent into terminal eyes disposed exteriorly to said inner portions and in a plane transverse to the plane of the lterminal hooks aforesaid, and an anchor member connecting the eyes at their inner boundaries and arched toward the hooks and spaced from the basal bends of the arms, said anchor member crossing the basal and more widely spaced.inner portions of the arms on the same side of the link as the terminal hooks aforesaid.

2. In a fabric of the character described, a link composed of a single piece of wire bent to form two juxtaposed arms each havingopposite parallel terminal portions and an intermediateoutwardly diverging portioninclined to said parallel portions, the

lfree ends of the outer portions terminating inhooks bent in the same direction in a given plane, the inner portions or those on the opposite sides of the inclined portions being bent into terminal eyes disposed exteriorly to said inner Vportions and in a plane transverse to the plane ofthe termin al hooks aforesaid, and an anchor member connecting the eyes at their. inner boundaries and arched toward the hooks and spaced from the basal bends of the arms, said anchor member crossing the basal and more widely spaced inner portions of the arms on the same side of the link as the terminal hooks aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature, in' presence of two witnesses.

HENRY KNICKMEYER.

Copies nf this patent may be obtained for've cents each, by raddressing the Commissioner oi latents,

- fwashingten, D. S. 

